A bench of Supreme Court consisting Justice Anil R. Dave, A.K. Goel and S. K. Singh revived the test, despite the strong resistance from some states like Tamil Nadu, Utter Pradesh and Karnataka.
The states have two points, first the timing of the decision as they said it is too late to go central test this year and the states called this imposition of NEET on all states as the violation of the state’s right to govern the affairs related to education. The states protested that education is a state issue and test would not be central.
The state also argued about its viability and its effect on the performance on students, who are preparing for 12th standard exams under different board, the syllabus of various boards are different from each other. The test would be conduct according to the syllabus of central board of secondary education.
The test was first introduced in 2012 and since that some states are against it and called it interference in the states right of education.
However, in 2013, the Supreme Court gave the decision in the favor of states and declared the test unconstitutional. The apex court said that this federal test would deprive the state run universities and colleges from the right to offer the admission in institution according to their rules and policies.
Colleges in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh filed petition against the test and asked for exemption for inducing the test as the admission criteria.
Indeed, there is a valid reason. For example, the students in Tamil Nadu are offered admission in medical colleges on the basis of the 12th standard marks. In Kerala similar procedures is being followed. The states have a fear that due to the difference in state and central board‘s syllabus, the students of states who does not follow the central board syllabus would have to suffer in the test.
The Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha, last month, wrote to the prime minister and urged him to give order to ministry of health and family welfare to withdraw the review petition filed in Supreme Court.
The chief minister had said that this NEET test would adversely affect the students in the state especially from rural areas and weaker sections and it is also an infringement on the state’s right to determine education policies including medical education.
The federal test for medical entrance is good idea like that of joint entrance test for engineering. With passage of time, people will understand its importance.
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